Algeria is among the leaders in the purchase of wheat from Russia

Algeria in the 2022/2023 agricultural year (July-June) was among the leaders in the purchase of Russian wheat, follows from the monitoring of the Union of Grain Exporters.

"Algeria literally burst into the top five importers of Russian wheat, having bought 2.1 million tons of it against 28 thousand tons in the previous agricultural year," Eduard Zernin, chairman of the union's board, told Interfax.

Libya also sharply stepped up purchases - up to 1.3 million tons from 225 thousand tons, respectively. Kenya also imported the same amount of wheat from the Russian Federation, increasing purchases by 46%. Among the leaders in terms of growth, the head of the union also named Sudan, which purchased 1.48 million tons against 1.1 million tons (an increase of 29%), and South Africa - 476 thousand tons against 372 thousand tons (an increase of 28%).

At the same time, according to the union, Nigeria reduced purchases of Russian wheat from 1.2 million tons to 130 thousand tons, Cameroon - from 265 thousand to 36 thousand tons, the Democratic Republic of the Congo - from 252 thousand to 33 thousand tons. tons, Ghana - from 252 thousand to 68 thousand tons, Angola - up to 220 thousand from 50 thousand tons, respectively.

According to Zernin, the countries of Islamic North Africa, which are part of the MENA region, are major buyers of grain on the world market and, with rare exceptions, are consistently among the largest grain importers from the Russian Federation. The only exceptions are Morocco and Tunisia. "Shipments also go to the Maghreb countries. As for the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, exports in this direction are still fragmented," he said.

Zernin also said that over the past agricultural year, the Russian Federation exported 17.5 million tons of grain to African countries, including 16.5 million tons of wheat, which is 63% more than in the previous season.

The head of the union believes that this agricultural year, the export of Russian grain to the African continent will grow. Since the beginning of the current season, 1.3 million tons of grain have already been sent to Africa, including 1.1 million tons of wheat.

In total, according to the union, last season Africa bought 91 million tons of grain on the world market, of which 53.9 million tons of wheat.

As reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at the Russia-Africa forum that in the first half of this year, the Russian Federation exported almost 10 million tons of grain to Africa.